


Firearm Qualifications

by zippyzany



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Parental Gil Arroyo, Team Dynamics, psychometric hand tremor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:35:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26082805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zippyzany/pseuds/zippyzany
Summary: The team needs to yearly update their firearms qualifications. Gil has decided that Malcolm should also get his re-qualification.
Relationships: Gil Arroyo & Malcolm Bright
Kudos: 14





	Firearm Qualifications

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea if in America police officers have to re-qualify yearly or how it is done. For the sake of this story they have to and the way it is done is explained within the story.

The team plus Malcolm walked into the gun range. The team needed to put in time regularly at the gun range and yearly update their firearms qualifications. They were there to re-qualify and Gil had dragged Malcolm along, Malcolm was not happy with the whole thing,

“Gil, I don’t understand why I have to be here,” he was explaining as he was walking beside Gil as Gil moved forward at speed as they were already late and he did not want to miss their time. “I am a consultant right? I do not need to be re-qualified for firing a gun. I don’t even carry one.”

JT was getting vests and glasses over the counter and distributing them and had a comment that was just for Dani but was heard by everyone, “Can he even fire a gun with that shaky hand?”

Malcolm threw him a glare as Gil had the ‘I’m so tired of my children bickering’ look on his face. JT and Malcolm had been bickering all morning like a pair of 4 year olds, who knew that formal US marine plus formal FBI would add up to kindergarten level of childish behavior once they got used to each other and whenever they weren't focused on a case? He turned his attention to Bright.

“Yes, you are a consultant,” began Gil and held up his hand to hold of whatever Malcolm was going to say, “However you find yourself in dangerous situations and refuse to stay back so therefore you will be qualified to fire a gun even if you won’t carry one.” When he saw that Malcolm was going to continue to argue, “That’s final!” he said in his best ‘I will be obeyed’ voice.

With that Dani started to help Malcolm into a vest with a smirk that said ‘you just got told of by your dad’. Malcolm rolled his eyes at her, which she laughed at. They seem to be able to just hold a whole conversation with their eyes.

Once they all had vests, headsets and safety goggles they all moved into the range that was booked for them and Gil was the first to go. Since this was re-qualification and not training, they were not standing behind a counter and firing at a target. They were to walk up, stop, draw the gun and then fire at the target. Gil went first and they were all impressed, almost all his bullets went into the target.

JT was next and majority of his bullets hit the target in various places with only a few misses and then came Dani, she was obviously the best among them as all of her shots were in the target around the chest and around the head. They were all impressed and they could see a faint blush that made it to her face.

Then it was Malcolm’s turn, he was given a Magnum 9 mm with 12 rounds in the magazine since he didn’t have his own service weapon. He took a deep breath to calm himself and Gil stepped up with the intention of walking him through the procedure. Malcolm felt his annoyance for Gil forcing him to do this rise, he hadn’t offered the other two any advice.

“Step up to the line,” instructed Gil and Malcolm threw him a glower as he stepped up and his hand gripped the gun harder and clicked the safety off without even looking down at the gun. He didn’t want to admit to anyone but holding a gun in his hand left good.

“Take three steps to the other line,” continued Gil as Malcolm threw him a final dirty look before focusing on the target in front of him, he took the three steps while arming the gun, “Level up and take a deep breath and gently squeeze the trigger, be mindful of the backlash,”

Malcolm threw one last disgusted scowl at no one particular without taking his eyes of the target, he brought the gun up, grabbed it steady with both hands and without a breath in between let loose the 12 rounds in the gun that had the others almost run for cover as they had only anticipated one round to be fired and undoubtedly banked on laughing at the shot that went very off target. When the panic at Malcolm’s almost machine gun fire and smoke had ran down they could all see the target. The bullets had been equally divided between the head and heart and almost all the bullets had hit the target on top of each other creating almost two giant holes in the head and hearth.

Malcolm turned around to face Gil, clicked the safety back on the gun despite it being empty and almost slammed it into his crest like he did with the files when they had first met.

“You seem to always forget that I was in the FBI, you yourself know that I also trained with the Marshal’s services,” he said and with that walked out of the range without a backward glance.

………

Gil found Malcolm back in the precinct getting a cup of coffee. He knew Malcolm was upset and he had every right to be. Gil was supposed to be one of the people who was supposed to have his corner and despite knowing him he hadn’t known that Malcolm was that good with a gun. He should have known, Malcolm had told him all about being accepted to Marshal training and he knew that the Marshal Services didn’t just take anyone.

He had fallen into the same trap that everyone had done about Malcolm all his life. People would look at Malcolm, his clothes, his physical appearance and decide that he would be a pushover. Malcolm had trouble when he was younger, once he hit high school Jessica had signed him up for some martial arts classes and being bullied had been put aside when those that picked on him realized that he could fight back. However even after knowing he could defend himself, he rarely did because once he punched someone out they all backed up in fear, like he had just proven that he was the surgeon’s son. The choice had been a hard one to make for a over the average smart 16 year old; either stay quiet and get bullied or fight back and become a pariah.

Gil wondered why he hadn’t become part of a gym or dojo since he was back. Malcolm was a physical person despite appearances, he needed to get rid of his excess energy somehow and not that he would admit to anyone but his excess anger as well and Gil knew that he did this in a martial arts dojo in Washington. Malcolm himself had taken him to his in Washington when Gil had gone up for a visit. Malcolm had really enjoyed the companionship he had found there and Gil for the first time had seen that Malcolm had people who enjoyed spending time with. He wasn’t doing much at the moment. This was a discussion they needed to have at a later date.

He supposed he was partly to blame for it, he had called Malcolm on the copycat case the second day he was back home. He hadn’t really given Malcolm time or a chance to settle down and build a life for himself in the city before dragging him into the department. However in his defense he had been dealing with a copycat and needed the surgeon expert to solve the case. Malcolm had needed time to come to the realization that he had been fired from a job he loved and deal with it. He had moved away from a city where he had lived and built a life for himself for ten years in just a week. He had given Malcolm the clutch he needed to avoid his problems. Perhaps Jessica was right, if he had given him time to find his footing Malcolm might have found something to do that was not related to murder. However, despite everything he knew that Malcolm’s calling was for law enforcement just like his had been, the need to help, to set things right was strong in those who truly embraced the lifestyle.

This however was a problem for another day, now he needed to deal with a moody profile who after getting a perfect score in the range had stalked out of there and was now literally sulking in the precinct, at least he had come here instead of going home. Gil couldn’t figure out what the problem was; what was he upset about? Was he upset with him for not trusting him to know how to use a gun? Or that fact that he forced him there? He needed to get to the bottom of the problem before it festered. As he made it to his office he turned around and found that Malcolm was watching him verily from where he stood.

“Can I see you in my office please?” he said gently. Malcolm looked at him and moved silently into the office. Gil couldn’t get a read of him like he usually could. He also was not sure how he was feeling about the whole re-qualification. They had all of course been re-qualified to handle a gun. Malcolm took a seat and was avoiding making eye contact and didn’t seem like he would look up for the foreseeable future so Gil opened the lines of communication.

“What is the matter?” There was no reason to point out that there was a problem.

Malcolm still looking down took a minute to consider the question, his head tilting one way and then the other like he was considering his options and what to say before taking a deep breath and replying, “It’s my psychometric hand tremor.”

When he didn’t seem inclined to continue Gil tried to understand the problem, “it didn’t seem to affect your ability to handle a gun,” he said and would have continued with ‘if that is what you are worried about,’ but Malcolm jumped in with enough anger that Gil was taken back a bit. 

“That is exactly the problem,” he pointed with his whole hand and Gil could see that it was shaking from where he sat. Malcolm still wouldn't make eye contact, he was talking to Gil's desk which Gil found a little disturbing but he had dealt with enough victims and suspects who avoided eye contact however Malcolm had always trusted him to look him in the eye. Malcolm's eye contact went even lower and he continued to talk to floor of Gil's office.

“When I have a gun in my hand it doesn’t shake,” and he took in breath that almost sounded like he was going to break down, “but now,” he said, both of their gazes shifted to look at his hand that was shaking. Malcolm stretched out his hand fisted it and brought it close to his body like it would help with the shaking, Gil knew that this ritual of stretching and clenching sometimes brought the shaking under control. Gil for a moment wondered where his stress balls had disappeared too, they had helped and he had seen Malcolm carry one in the first case they worked together but they had vanished. 

Gil waited without answering knowing that Malcolm would continue, “What does this say about me?” he asked, “that I can’t even hold a pencil or a cup of coffee spills because I am shaking but a gun,” he drifted off his breath hitching like he might start sobbing.

Gil leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table and joined his hands and placed his chin on them and looked at the man he considered his son, after a moment of waiting Malcolm got a bit of his control back and finally raised his eyes, made eye contact and Gil replied in a gentle voice.

“It means that when you handle a dangerous weapon your whole being knows that it cannot be shaking because if you shake it could mean you could hurt someone and no matter what you think about yourself you will never endanger anyone no matter who they are.”

When Malcolm still looked unsure he went on, “did you have this problem when you threw axes or knives?” He asked knowing that Malcolm just didn’t throw axes. He also knew that Malcolm could swing that expensive katana he had as well.

"It can't be that simple," he replied, "I am a psychologist and know it can't be that straightforward." Gil could see that Malcolm's over educated brain was gearing up for an argument and while Malcolm arguing and thinking about this meant he was getting out of his flunk, Gil didn't want this to become a problem.

"Not everything has to complicated and need of analyzing," he gave him an intense stare. "This is that simple! Dangerous weapon therefore complete control over it."

Malcolm frowned, and Gil gave him the time to reflect and think about it in silence. He didn’t drop his gaze even when Malcolm looked away, this time not down to the floor but out the window so Gil knew that they were almost out of the flunk he was in. Gil gave his support silently and surely. He knew that he had gotten through to him when Malcolm’s tense shoulders relaxed an inch and he took a deeper breath then before but Malcolm was not ready to let it go, “The pencil is supposed to be the mightier weapon,” he said out of the blue that had Gil almost burst with a laugh at the surprise turn in conversation. “Why doesn’t my brain know that?” he asked out of the blue.

“You can’t kill someone with a pencil,”

“That’s what you think,” Malcolm said and Gil could see that he almost had a half smile on his face and knew that they were ok.

“You should prepare yourself,” he said to totally get rid of the tense air that had settled into the office, “major crimes department has a standing paintball competition with precinct 16 once a month and with that kind of marksmanship I would think you should expect to be on the team.”

Malcolm suddenly looked unsure, this was the boy that had not been invited to anything when he was younger and he was not expecting anyone to invite him anywhere but Gil already knew that the grape wine was working and the amazing skills of the consultant plus that he was formal FBI would be making its way around major crimes. Gil had wanted to set him at ease not create new tension.

"Don't fret about it, it's just a bit of fun followed by a barbecue. I am sure you will do great," he reassured the now nervous profiler. 

“Are you on the team?”

“Nope, I just sit by the side and enjoy the show,” he smirked. “I look forward to you getting splattered, the 16th precinct will surely know about the new secret weapon of major crimes and will be ready to take you out as a group before you can do much damage.”

“I haven’t even been asked yet or said I’ll join,” said Malcolm even though he knew he would. He rarely got invited to anything and to think that he would be invited anywhere made him giddy.

Before Gil could respond JT was knocking and pushing the door open, “Boss, we have a case,” he said as his eyes went over the scene reading the room almost as well as their profiler to see if they were ok.

“Shall I arm him?” he threw out there.

“He is right here and can make the decision of whether he would like to carry a gun or not,” answered Malcolm as he got up off the chair and followed JT out of the office.

Gil could hear JT talk about the fact that if he had that much precision with a gun he should carry one and smiled as he heard Malcolm give a long complicated answer, the team seemed to be ok with this newest development. Although Gil wondered about Malcolm’s ability to actually pull the trigger when it came to the field. He made a mental note to write to his contact in the FBI and ask for the files that every law enforcement kept about discharged weapons in the field by their employees and since Malcolm was his consultant it should be easy to get those records.

Several weeks later when he got the files he was not surprised to find that Malcolm had not fired his service weapon once in the field, something that he was written up about several times. He made a note to have a private word with Dani and JT to let them know not to count on Malcolm being able to pull the trigger. Being a leader meant you knew the strengths and weaknesses of your men and planned for them.

In the meantime the paintball game was tomorrow morning and Malcolm had been dragged out several evenings this week by major crimes detectives to talk and practice strategy. Gil was eager to see Malcolm in action even if it was just pretend.


End file.
